The victim allegedly pointed a rifle at two officers about to make an arrest for assault

By Jason Bergreen The Salt Lake Tribune

Published June 18, 2007 12:23 am

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

An officer responding to a report of an assault in Centerville Sunday morning fatally shot a 29-year-old man who reportedly pointed a rifle at police.

The shooting occurred about 1 a.m. at a home at 135 East and 2050 North, said Centerville police Sgt. Niles Bartleson.

The name of the man and theofficer involved in the shooting were not released.

Bartleson said two officers responded to the home at about 11 p.m. to investigate a possible assault. They interviewed a victim and several witnesses before being let into the home around 1 a.m. to make an arrest.

Inside, police found a man in a bedroom holding a rifle, Bartleson said. The officers ordered the man to put the gun down, but he didn't, Bartleson said. When the man turned the rifle toward police, Bartleson said, one officer shot him twice. The man died in the home.

It was not known if the man said anything to police before pointing the gun at the officers, Bartleson said.

It doesn't appear a gun was used during the initial assault police were responding to, he said.

The man's body was taken to the Utah State Medical Examiner's Office. His family has been notified of his death, Bartleson said.

The officer who shot the man was placed on paid administrative leave. The Bountiful Police Department is conducting the investigation into the shooting because it involved an officer.

Bartleson, who has been with the Centerville Police Department for 16 years, said this was the first fatal officer-involved shooting that he knows of since he has been with the department.